insurance

[tshadowchaser]

How many of you feel that you have an adequate insurance from the company you work for. If you are unemployed do you feel the whatever coverage you have is adequate.
Dose you coverage warrant the price you have to pay for it?

 

[tshadowchaser]

For myself I feel that I am getting screwed. I have a $1000 deductible to pay before my insurance pays for anything but my annual physical. The only other coverage that was offered by my employer was a $2000 deductible

 

[theletch1]

I have what could be "called" insurance. We've been paying family rates for 2 years and it was just this month that they finally agreed that my wife and children really existed... despite all the bills they'd received for them in the past. I'll have to wait til they actually pay a bill to figure out if they're worth what I've been paying for it.

 

[tshadowchaser]

sounds about normal. My wife fights with her insurance company every month on whatis going to be paid and what is not

 

[theletch1]

These guys refused to even put my family on the plan until I sent them birth certificates, marriage licenses and a bunch of other crap. My son broke his arm, they had their lawyers contact me to find out all the information about the school he attends. Their thought was to see if they (the insurance company) could sue the elementary school for reimbursement since he was on their property when the injury happened. Grrr. Crooked people every one.

 

[tshadowchaser]

a story like that deserves to be in the horror section

some of these companies just make me sick with the way they try to get out of paying

 

[terryl965]

I agre it took them two years to finally agree that I had a heart desease and started to let me get the proper coverege, what a joke.

 

[Kacey]

I have my choice between Kaiser and Cigna - I currently have Cigna POS (point of service) which means I can choose any doctor in the network, and can go out of the network (for an extra fee) if I want to. Currently, I pay $20 to visit my primary care physician, $40 for specialists, $10 for generic prescriptions, $20 for non-generic, and $100 for ER visits (I think - it's been years) - those terms change slightly every year, depending on which package the district chooses. I prefer Cigna mostly because when I had Kaiser I never saw a doctor for routine checks - I had a different doctor every year for 7 years but always the same gynecology nurse who did the actual exam; I think I only met the doctor once (that 1 of 7 doctors - not met each of them once) - I've had the same doctor now for 7 or 8 years and much prefer it. I will say that when I had Kaiser they had a great walk-in after hours clinic, and while I know people who didn't like them because of bad experiences, I generally got really good service from them.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I feel like I am being ripped off every time I pay them.

(every time) This truly is one of the greatest scams ever. Having said that when something does go bad we are all glad we have insurance.

 

[tshadowchaser]

seems to me that we pay more each year for monthly payments and have higher deductibles each year also

As for seeing my own doctor I almost have to make a special appointment to see him otherwise I get whomever they happen to send into the room and most of the time that is a nurse practitioner not a DR

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

seems to me that we pay more each year for monthly payments and have higher deductibles each year also

As for seeing my own doctor I almost have to make a special appointment to see him otherwise I get whomever they happen to send into the room and most of the time that is a nurse practitioner not a DR

That truthfully is the new wave of medicine and it is scary.

 

[terryl965]

I know our insurence just raised our dedeuctable another $1000.00 dollar and co-pays went up to $40.00 and specialist just went to $75.00, weel my primary doctor only charges $65.00 for an office visit. That means we are paying $894.00 so we can save $15.00 on Coctor visit, walgrens drug program is cheaper than opur insurance some meds cost $35.00 with insurance and with there discount card thing I get it for $18.00 how the hell is that.

 

[harlan]

I'm unhappy with my coverage as well. However, what is worse...is my dental. Our health plan covers NO dental, and my dental is a total of $750 per year/person...and with deductibles and of course...depending on if the dentist is 'in-network'.

So...I find myself in the situation where a family member has $7000 worth of necessary dental surgury needed (due to an underlying medical condition)...and neither company will come close to covering it. I have to take out a bank loan to cover a necessary medical condition...because there is NO oral surgeon that takes chickens, barter, or post-dated checks.

 

[zDom]

I can't afford the health insurance offered at my work; I am one of the "uninsured."

If I was poorer, the gov't would take care of me. If I were richer, I could afford to get insurance.

Ah well. I hate insurance companies anyway. Crooks.

But then, part of the problem is US: health insurance USED to be about a hospital stay. NOW we expect and demand all these "doctor copays" "medicine copays" etc., etc.

Not to mention frivilous malpractice suits that drive up the price of healthcare (not saying someone who is screwed shouldn't be compensated, but there are a LOT of BS lawsuits out there).

 

[Kacey]

Oh, I agree completely about the lawsuits - the lawsuits are a big part of the problem - both with the cost of insurance for people, and the cost malpractice insurance for practitioners, especially doctors.... which cost is then passed on to patients, in the form of rates.

I'm not as sure about the copays. The purpose of insurance premiums is to offset the cost of medical treatment if and when it is needed - therefore, the copay is intended to be the difference between what you've already paid (in premiums) and the cost of actually seeing the doctor, while still keeping some of the burden of payment on the individual patient, instead of spreading it to all members of the insurance group. Insurance can somewhat be likened to membership in a grocery warehouse such as Sam's or Costco - I pay for the membership, which helps offset the cost of the facility; then I pay for what I use, which I get at a lower price because of the volume buying made possible by combining the purchases of all of the members.

I'm not saying there aren't problems - there are some horrible problems with heath care, and cost and accessibility are high up the list - but neither is it all bad, either.

 

[zDom]

I'm not as sure about the copays. ...

The point I was trying to make with that is that insurance USED to be about hospital stays, but NOW includes doctor visits and prescription medicines.

Before it was just a gamble on the Big Ticket Item, but now insurance companies and paying out on every customer, all of the time. Of course it is going to end up being more expensive across the board: they are out to make money.

 

[jks9199]

The point I was trying to make with that is that insurance USED to be about hospital stays, but NOW includes doctor visits and prescription medicines.

Before it was just a gamble on the Big Ticket Item, but now insurance companies and paying out on every customer, all of the time. Of course it is going to end up being more expensive across the board: they are out to make money.

Or, to put it another way, insurance used to cover you for major, often unexpected, medical expenses. You paid for your own routine physicals, etc. Now, your insurance covers just about anytime you see the doctor... However, part of this was because insurance companies found that people who got physicals were healthier, and cost less, so they paid for that routine checkup... and so on.

So it's not really so easy to point to the idea of copays, insurance paying for more, etc. and say that the problem with the current medical system is insurance, or costs, or anything else. It's a huge, complex field, and the problems are equally huge and complex.

 

[TallAdam85]

i am going to start up something about insurance in the school part of this site. Reason being now i am my own boss i have to go out and get my own medical insurance. I have no clue where to start and what not

 

[Ping898]

My insurance, especially compared to this lot, isn't that bad. No deductible, $20 for all docs, 20% on name brand drugs, less on generics, $100 for the ER and 10% of an hospital stay and I pay about $120 a month (I think) in premiums. It is BCBS POS. My biggest problem with them is there are lots of limits, like only X about of physical therapy for an injury....things like that, that I think the doctor should set, not the insurance company.
I have to admit, I grew up with better and less expensive insurance, but everything can't be like it was....

 

[tshadowchaser]

I grew up with better and less expensive insurance, but everything can't be like it was

agreed.
When I was younger (yes they had insurence when I was young) my coverage was much better and much less expensive
It just seems to me I pay more each year and have more to pay for a deductible and get less for it